Sanders v. Brown

"[Adequate assistance] of counsel is particularly important when a defendant is called upon to waive fundamental rights, as by a guilty plea or waiver of jury trial[.]" Krummacher v. Gierloff, 290 Or 867, 874-75, 627 P2d 458 (1981).

Petitioner sought post-conviction relief from the post-conviction court's denial of relief. Petitioner assigned error to the court's denial of relief on the grounds that counsel was not ineffective for failing to inform Petitioner how time served would be calculated with a high level of specificity. On appeal, Petitioner argued counsel was ineffective because failure to investigate the law led to misadvising Petitioner about the credit of time issue. In response, Respondent argued Petitioner's argument failed because the post-conviction court did not find as a fact that the equal credit for time served was part of the plea agreement. "[Adequate assistance] of counsel is particularly important when a defendant is called upon to waive fundamental rights, as by a guilty plea or waiver of jury trial[.]" Krummacher v. Gierloff, 290 Or 867, 874-75, 627 P2d 458 (1981). The Court held that the post-conviction court based its ruling on erroneous legal conclusions "that counsel was never required to be as specific as petitioner requested in advising how time served would be calculated," and should reconsider whether petitioner was misinformed and whether he would have accepted the plea knowing he would not be credited equal time served for concurrent sentences. Reversed and remanded.